Never was there a tale
of more woe than this of Juliet and her Romeo…But true love never dies.
Though they’re parted by the veil between the world of mortals and the
land of the dead, Romeo believes he can restore Juliet to life, but
he’ll have to travel to the underworld with a thoroughly infuriating
guide.

Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, may not have inherited his
father’s crown, but the murdered king left his son a much more important
responsibility—a portal to the Afterjord, where the souls of the dead
reside. When the determined Romeo asks for help traversing the
treacherous Afterjord, Hamlet sees an opportunity for adventure, and the
chance to avenge his father’s death.

In an underworld filled
with leviathan monsters, ghoulish shades, fire giants and fierce
Valkyrie warriors, Hamlet and Romeo must battle their way through
jealousy, despair, and their darkest fears to rescue the fair damsel.
Yet finding Juliet is only the beginning, and the Afterjord doesn’t
surrender souls without a price…

ALICIA:
1. First, can you tell us a little bit about SUCH SWEET SORROW, for readers
that are unfamiliar with it?

JENNY: SUCH SWEET SORROW is the first book in the Wondrous Strange
series. It’s a reimagining and continuation of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet
and Hamlet, with some Norse mythology and paranormal elements mixed in. It’s
what happens when Romeo doesn’t die from the poison, and must rescue Juliet
from the afterlife.ALICIA:
2. I have been a fan of Romeo and Juliet since I was a kid. So when I see
retellings of my favorite fairytale, I always wonder how the author decided on
that particular fairytale. How did you decide to write a retelling of Romeo and
Juliet, and was it everything you thought it would be?

JENNY: Well, the idea came from Nick Harris at The Story
Foundation. He had an idea for the book, and my agent Miriam Kriss put him in
contact with me. He had sort of the skeleton of the idea, and he wanted a
writer to flesh it out. It’s been a really different, really unique process,
and I’ve enjoyed it every step of the way.ALICIA:
3. I have to tell you, I LOVE the twist that you have thrown into this
retelling. What gave you the idea to interweave Underworlds and Souls of the
dead, in this amazing paranormal twist of your version of Romeo and Juliet?

JENNY: Nick, Miriam and I spent a lot of time on the phone and
passing emails back and forth, brainstorming different elements of the plot and
what we thought might work and might not. I wanted to incorporate Norse
mythology because Hamlet is from Denmark. There were a few other suggestions,
like incorporating the seven deadly sins, that didn’t work out for this book,
but might show up down the road in the series.

ALICIA:
4. Can you tell us which character was your favorite in SUCH SWEET SORROW, and
a little bit about him/her?

JENNY: I think my favorite character to write was Hamlet, because
he’s based quite a bit on my son, or what I think my son will be like when he gets
older. My son is autistic and high-functioning, and sometimes he will have
these reactions to things that seem rude or openly hostile to people who don’t
understand, but to him it makes perfect sense. I think that shows a lot in
Hamlet. There are times when Romeo or Juliet are having these very
understandably emotional responses, and Hamlet is fixated on an entirely
different detail, because he thinks differently. But to him, it’s the most
important detail at the time. Still, that doesn’t mean he has a total
disconnect from his feelings. He loves his friends and is extremely loyal to
them, even if he isn’t always able to communicate with them in a way they might
want him to. In that, he is very much like my son, and it made him very dear to
me.

ALICIA:
5. You have a couple different author names, so it's hard to keep track of what
genres you write the most! :) What's your favorite genre that you like to
write, and what about that genre keeps you wanting to write more of it?

JENNY: I really love romance. No matter what genre I’m writing,
there will always be some kind of romance in it. I’ve written urban fantasy,
erotica, fantasy, steampunk, you name it, I’ve probably dabbled in it, but
there is always an element of romance there.

ALICIA:
6. Retellings have gotten really popular lately, so I was wondering, what was
your favorite fairytale growing up (or now), and do you plan on writing more
retelling's in the future?

JENNY: I actually wrote a critically well-received series of
fairytale erotic romance novellas in a series called Naughtily Ever After. I
used Cinderella, Jack and The Beanstalk/The Prince and The Pauper, and Beauty
and The Beast, and gave them all different twists, and made them exist in a
land without magic. Rather than a fairy godmother, Cinderella has a hot
godfather who is a respected noble in the royal court. The giant in Jack and
the beanstalk is just a human guy of remarkable size. And in Beast, my version
of Beauty and The Beast, the hero isn’t a literal beast, but an ill-behaved
Prince who has to pay for his past mistakes. I so enjoyed writing them, and
hope to write some more in the series in the future.

Snow White was my favorite fairy tale, though I think I was
highly influenced by the Disney version, because she had black hair. I so
desperately wanted black hair as a child.

fun question for jenny

ALICIA:
7. You are caught in a Twisted fairytale, what fairytale would that be, and what
type of paranormal creatures are invading the lands, but most important, how
would you get out of it...alive?

JENNY: I imagine I would be sucked into Snow White, because that’s
my favorite fairy tale. Wouldn’t it be awesome if the evil queen had familiars
doing her bidding, like the Wicked Witch of the West’s flying monkeys?
Something like that. I don’t think I would survive, though. I’m a coward, and
I’d just wait for someone else to save me. As we all know from the movies,
that’s the easiest way to be the first one killed.

ALICIA: 8. Is their anything you would like to say to your fans and fans to come?

JENNY:Thanks for giving me a try, and I hope you like every book
as much as you liked the last one!ALICIA:Ms. Trout, I had a blast doing this Interview with you today, and I am so
looking forward to reading SUCH SWEET SORROW, released February 4th! This
is one book this year that I can NOT miss! Thanks for visiting us here at
Addicted Readers.

Giveaway Details:- 1 Prize pack of the 2013 DVD of Romeo and Juliette and the 2010 DVD of Hamlet and 1 signed copy of Such Sweet Sorrow. US ONLY - 3 paperbacks of Such Sweet Sorrow US Only. - 3 eBooks of Such Sweet Sorrow Internatioanl.

Writing as
Jennifer Armintrout, she made the USA Today Bestseller list with Blood
Ties Book One: The Turning. Her novel American Vampire was named one of
the top ten horror novels of 2011 by Booklist Magazine Online.

Jenny also writes award-winning erotic romance as Abigail Barnette.

When she’s not writing, she’s sleeping or otherwise incapacitated.

She
is a proud Michigander, mother of two, and wife to the only person
alive capable of spending extended periods of time with her without
wanting to murder her.

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Addicted Readers receives ARC's (Advanced Reader Copies) from authors and publishers in exchange for an honest review. No compensation of any kind is exchanged. And every opinion express is my own and is not influenced in any way.